The present invention relates to a system for ensuring that a replaceable ink supply container is properly oriented when inserted into an ink-jet printer.
A typical ink-jet printer has a pen mounted to a carriage which is moved back and forth over a printing surface, such as a piece of paper. The pen carries a print head. As the print head passes over appropriate locations on the printing surface, a control system activates ink jets on the print head to eject, or jet, ink drops onto the printing surface and form desired images and characters.
Some ink-jet printers use stationary ink supplies that are mounted away from the carriage and that supply ink to a refillable ink reservoir built into the pen. The ink may be supplied from the supply container to the pen through a tube that extends between the pen and the container.
Color ink-jet printers typically combine four ink colors to create a multitude of colors on the printing surface. Such printers can include a replaceable supply container for each color (typically black, cyan, yellow and magenta) used by the printer. A group of pens, each dedicated to a particular color, are mounted to the printer carriage. A separate ink delivery system for each color of ink is required.
Specifically, the entire path for one color of ink from its supply container to the pen and out the print head is dedicated for use by a single color of ink. Accordingly, a four-color ink-jet printer is configured to incorporate four discrete ink delivery systems, one for each color.
Some ink-jet printing systems provide for different classes or families of ink for use with different models of printers. For example, a printer designed to provide a very high quality print output may use ink having chemical and physical properties that are unlike the inks used with less-costly printer designs or families.
Contaminating one color ink with another, such as by introducing an ink of one color into the ink delivery system of another color, can ruin the color print quality. Moreover, directing the ink of one family into the delivery system of another family, can be disastrous for a printer. For example, if two black inks from different families were mixed together as a result of replacing one supply with the other, the mixture could react to form a precipitate and clog the ink delivery system, resulting in failure of the printer.
It is generally not a problem keeping inks of different colors and different ink families separated in printers that make use of replaceable cartridges having an integrated printhead and ink storage container. Because the entire ink supply, printhead and ink conduit between the ink supply and printhead are replaced with the ink cartridge there is generally not a concern of ink of different colors or families mixing. In contrast, there is great opportunity for inks of different ink families or different ink colors to become intermixed in printers which make use of ink storage units that are replaceable separately from the printhead. Replacing the ink storage unit with an ink color or ink family that is different from the previous ink storage unit results in mixing of ink from the replacement ink storage unit with ink remaining in the printhead and ink conduit from the previous ink storage unit. This intermixing of ink colors tends to produce unpredictable colors reducing the quality of output images. In addition, the mixing of ink families can result in chemical interactions between the residual ink and replacement ink which can result in a precipitate which can block the ink passages or result in unpredictable performance of the printhead.
There is an ever present need for systems for insuring that ink containers having the proper ink parameters are correctly inserted into the ink jet printer. These systems should insure that the ink container is properly aligned so that proper fluid interconnect is provided between the ink container and the printhead. In addition, this system should provide some form of tactile feedback so that the user knows that the ink container is properly inserted into the printer. And finally, this system should provide some means for securing the ink container in the ink jet printer so that the ink container does not inadvertently become disconnected thereby causing ink spillage. This system should be cost effective and easily manufactured.
The present invention is an ink container for supplying ink having proper ink parameters to an ink container receiving station. The ink container includes a first feature indicative of ink family associated with the ink container and a second feature indicative of ink color associated with the ink container.
Another aspect of the present invention is where the ink container includes a shell and a cap, the cap is attachable to the shell and wherein each of the first and second features are attached to the cap.
In one preferred embodiment the first and second features are latch features. The latch features are configured for engaging ink container receiving station latch surfaces, for securely mounting ink containers having proper ink parameters to the ink container receiving station. In this preferred embodiment the first latch feature is a first plurality of tabs and the second latch feature is a second plurality of tabs, spaced from the first plurality of tabs.
Another aspect of the present invention is an ink container receiving station for receiving ink containers having proper ink parameters. The ink container receiving station includes a latching mechanism configured for engaging corresponding ink container latching features and securing ink containers to the supply station. The ink container receiving station includes a keying system component to define, in conjunction with ink container latch features, ink containers having proper ink parameters.